Freshly Minted: Mark Schlosser

MISt Candidate, School of Information Studies, McGill University

I’m completing a Masters of Information Studies (MISt) at McGill University’s School of Information Studies.

What are your current classes like? Which is your favorite so far, and why?

The classes balance theory and practice. I am most interested in Knowledge Management (KM), and have therefore focused many of my course selections on the KM area. That said, I have taken a few multimedia, information architecture and searching classes. My favourite was the KM foundations course with Dr. Kimiz Dalkir. It was inspiring! The class gave me a solid foundation and understanding of the field and it’s concepts. I am also enjoying Multimedia Systems with Dr. Ilja Frissen, as we are learning practical digitisation and media skills.

Is there one aspect of the profession that surprises you that you were not expecting when you started the program? What is it?

I was pleasantly surprised by the “human” approach that many, if not all aspects of the profession involve. Whether managing information, knowledge, or materials, always putting users first by understanding and reacting to their needs has been highly important.

What was it that initially drove you to librarianship?

I was interested in applying my existing interest in organizational management and communication in a more focused way. The information profession is a way to bring a kind of versatile expertise to the widest variety of contexts (humanities, business, science etc.) and I wanted to have flexibility in my career.

If you could work anywhere, and do anything with information, what would your dream job look like?

I would like to work in team, managing meaningful projects in a large corporation or government institution. By putting in place processes like knowledge sharing structures and information databases as well as creating a knowledge sharing culture, I could improve employees’ access to information to make the organisation function more efficiently. In terms of work environment, places like Revenue Canada, CSIS, Ubisoft or Moment Factory are examples of organisations whose mission seem most interesting to me.

If someone were considering going to library school, what would you advise them about?

Be a self-starter. It’s great when people hand you projects that you can collaborate on, but most of the time, you need to step up and be the lead by purposing a project in the first place. This is the best way to get hands on experience and build your CV as a student.

What do you think is the most important aspect of being an information professional today?

Networking. Whether it be for finding employment or for sharing expertise, networking with fellow professionals both informally and “on the job” is the best way to learn and to grow in this field.